Tag: chainline

I installed the KickBack center stand on my Xtracycle today, and ran into a chainline problem. Because I’m running a Rohloff internally-geared hub in back, my rear cog is pretty small, and I don’t have a long derailleur to push the bottom chain line down very far. The Rohloff chain tensioner is fairly compact, and only gives me a few inches of clearance between the return chain and the FreeRadical frame. The KickBack takes up pretty much all of that space, so when it’s folded back in the “Ride” position, the chain rubs on it. Here are some photos to demonstrate:

The third photo is what it ought to look like; the second is what it actually looks like. If I ride the bike like this, I’ll cut a groove in the KickBack where the chain hits it, and probably won’t be doing the chain any favors. (Speaking of which, it’s time to clean and lube the chain.)

Someone else must have run into this before–I know a bunch of Xtracycle owners are running internal gear hubs such as the Rohloff or Nexus. Are they all using much larger chainrings in front than I am, or have none of them installed a KickBack yet?

I have a couple ideas for pushing the chain down, including replacing the Rohloff tensioner with an old rear derailleur with a longer cage, or making some sort of idler pulley contraption out of an L bracket and a skate wheel. There’s a spare mounting bolt right next to where the chain rubs–that’d be an ideal place to mount an idler, with the added benefit that it might increase the pressure keeping the KickBack in place when it’s retracted, reducing rattling when I hit rough patches on the road.

I could also try cutting a bit off the stop tube of the KickBack, so that it retracts farther. I think that would only get me a centimeter more clearance at best, though, and I bet I’d get chain strikes still when I hit potholes.